In a move to dodge the newly imposed import duties, Apple flew five cargo planes filled with iPhones and other products from India and China to the US, reportedly within just three days. As per a report from The Times of India, this happened in the last week of March.
The new US tariffs are the reason behind this sudden inventory shift
According to a senior Indian official (via), this urgency to shift the inventory to the US was driven by a new 10 percent reciprocal tariff introduced by the Trump administration that kicked in on April 5. Notably, this is also an unusual time for anything near this scale of an inventory shift. The global electronic transport typically sees a slowdown towards the end of Q1.
According to the TOI report, Apple is just trying to keep the retail pricing the same as long as possible. Not to mention, this large-scale inventory shift is none other than a swift response to the new tariff aimed at minimizing the financial burden on the company without imposing the added cost on the end users.
“Stockpiling inventory that arrived before the tariff hike gives Apple a buffer, allowing it to avoid immediate price increases,” notes the TOI report, citing the source. Apple now has enough stocks in the US to sustain the market demand throughout the next couple of months without having to increase the price tag. Notably, the company does not have any immediate plans to increase the price in other markets such as India and China either. But what happens after the current stocks in the US run out remains a question for now.
According to an industry insider, “A price revision solely in the US would not be feasible. The impact would have to be spread across major markets, including India.” The Trump administration is pushing hard to convince TSMC to build in the US — you can read more about it here.
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